Inbound Marketing Blog

Contact Re-Engagement: How to Reactivate Lost Leads

We all know that life can sometimes get in the way of leads engaging with your business, whether it's their busy work schedule or putting off solving their business problem until a later date. Either way, it's often the case that leads go cold and therefore re-engagement activities are needed to activate lost leads once more.

Re-engaging lost leads isn't always easy to do, however, especially with leads who have previously shown interest in your products or services, it's easier to re-engage them with compelling content and nurturing activities.

So, how do you go about re-engaging lost leads and maximising your chances of converting their previous interest into sales? Here's how:

1.) Re-engaging through email:

You'll be used to engaging with leads via email at the final stage of the sales process, when they are primed to be converted into a customer. However, this is also a useful medium for re-engaging inactive customers and raising their interest in your business as a solution to their business problem. I know what you're thinking, isn't email Outbound rather than Inbound marketing? Not exactly, email is also a useful lead conversion tool for Inbound so it shouldn't be overlooked.

Best practice for re-engaging leads using email includes:

Eye catching subject lines - try including phrases such as 'we haven't heard from you in a while' to make it more personal

Send your email a part of a series, perhaps 3-4 over a 3 month period - a single email in isolation is more likely to be overlooked

Consider using incentives - what's in it for your lead? What are you offering them in return for their custom?

Refer to previous engagements to jog their memory and create a sense of familiarity

2.) Re-engaging through content:

Compelling content is much more than just a pretty face, it's also a great way to re-engage your leads and provide them with the information to solve their business problem. Regular blog posts, articles and social media posts that provide insightful, relevant information will be more likely to spark an interest with dormant leads. Take some time to plan and execute a content plan to make sure your presence online is meaningful and engaging. You might even consider engaging directly with leads you know are following you on social media using their twitter handle or sending them a direct message.

3.) Re-engaging through Marketing Automation:

Making your offer as compelling as your content is a sure way to induce action in your dormant leads. Using marketing automation platforms such as Hubspot, in the event you receive no engagement from a contact after a few attempts, schedule in a final campaign to give them a time restricted offer. Giving them a time frame will increase the sense of urgency, and increase the feeling of not wanting to miss out if they fail to claim the offer. While this might work better for some businesses than others, the principle is key - make the offer compelling and worthwhile the lead pursuing.

Using these three tips for re-engaging lost leads means that they don't have to remain lost in the long term. While we recognise that some leads may have dis-engaged because your business isn't, and never will be, suitable for their needs, some leads will be more receptive to re-engagement efforts. For example, those who are busy or got temporarily sidetracked, will be the most receptive to re-engagement activities and so spending the time targeting these prospects will likely achieve a greater success rate.